Identification badge with detachable clip



ept. 18, 1962 M. T. BURNS 3,054,201

IDENTIFICATION BADGE WITH DETACHABLE CLIP Filed July 14, 1961 Patented Sept. 18, 1962 3,054,201 IDENTIFHTATION BADGE WITH DETACHABLE CLKP Malachy T. Burns, Chicago, 11]., assignor to the United States of America as represented by the United States Atomic Energy Commission Filed July 14, 1961, Ser. No. 124,241 2 Claims. (Cl. 40-1.5)

This invention relates to an identification badge to be worn by a worker on the job, and more particularly, to the connection of the badge to an attaching member by which the badge is affixed to the person of the worker on his clothing.

An identification badge must be worn on many an industrial and governmental job. When a worker forgets to bring his badge to work, he and his employer are greatly inconvenienced by the delays in establishing the workers identity and issuing a temporary badge. Yet an identification badge can easily be forgotten, because the workers wallet, which is perhaps the only item to be carried every work day, is not a suitable receptacle for the conventional badge made bulky by the large and strong attaching member required. Consequently, the badge is frequently left in or on the clothing. Instead of returning with the worker and his wallet on the next work day, the badge may be lost or stolen from the workers wallet or left at home because of a change of clothing.

The present invention has to do with connecting an attaching member to an identification badge in such a way that it may readily be connected to and disconnected from the member by the wearer, but will not accidentally become disconnected while being worn. Thus, the badge is readily converted to wallet-carrying size and is likely to be safe at all times and to accompany the wearer whenever he needs his badge.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a badge and its attaching clip connected to one another in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is in elevation of a modified form of an attaching member for the badge.

As shown in FIG. 1, an identification badge 10 is detachably connected to an attaching member in the form of a clip 11, by means of a pin 12. A surface 13 of the badge 10 is adapted to display the wearers picture or other identification. An opposite surface 13a is in contact with the clip '11. The clip comprises jaw member-s 14 and "15 pivotally connected to one another by a shaft 16 and controlled by a spring (not shown) preferably associated with the pivot shaft 16 so that flanged ends 17 and 18 of the jaw members 14 and 15 are moved toward one another in overlapping relation so as to be capable of gripping, for example, the upper edge of a pocket (not shown) on a coat or shirt of a wearer of the badge 10.

The pin 12 extends through the badge 10 near its upper end and midway between its side edges and has an intermediate shoulder 19 engaging the badge surface 13a and an end portion 20 enlarged and upset against the badge surface 13, with the result that the pin 12 is held against all movement with respect to the badge 10, in cluding angular movement about its own axis. The pin 12 has an enlarged head 21, which, as shoWn in FIG. 1, lies on the same side of the badge 10 as the surface 13a in spaced relation to the shoulder 19, and, as shown in FIG. 2, has the shape of a circle with a flat side 22, which is generally horizontal.

The pin 12 extends through an elongated slot 23 in the clip 11. More particularly, the slot 26 is formed in the jaw member 14 to extend longitudinally thereof on the side of the pivot shaft 16 away from the flanged end 17. The upper end of the slot 23, or the end away from the pivot shaft 16, has, as shown in FIG. 2, an enlarged portion 24 which is in the shape of a circle having a flat side 25. The flat side extends generally longitudinally of the jaw member -14, or generally vertically when the clip 11 is vertical as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The enlarged slot portion 24 is of a size and shape just to pass the head 21 of the pin 12, so that the clip 11 may be connected to, or disconnected from, the badge 10 upon being angularly shifted into general parallelism with the upper edge of the badge 10 as shown in dash-dot lines in FIG. 2, and shifted longitudinally to bring the enlarged slot portion 24 into registry with the enlarged head 21. The spacing between the enlarged head 21 and shoulder 9 on the pin 12 is a little greater than the thickness of the jaw member 14, so that the jaw member fits between the enlarged head and the shoulder.

When the clip 11 grips the upper edge of a pocket in the clothing of a wearer and thus i vertical as shown in FIG. 1 and in full lines in FIG. 2, the badge 11} cannot become accidentally detached from the clip 11, because gravity acting on the badge holds the pin 12 in the lower end of the slot 23 well spaced from the enlarged portion 24 of the slot at the upper end, and the flat side 25 of the enlarged portion of the slot is generally at right angles to the fiat side 22 on the head 21 of the pin 12. Thus for detachment of the badge 10 from the clip 11 to occur, the badge must not only be lifted to bring the pin 12 to the upper end of the slot 23 but also rotated to make the flat sides 22 and 25 register with one another. Obviously, this is not likely to occur accidentally. Yet it is very easy to disconnect the badge ill from the clip 11 if the wearer is deliberate about it.

FIG. 3 shows an alternate attaching member in the form of a strip 26, which is adapted to cooperate with a chain 27 in being suspended from a wearer or his clothing. The chain 27 may go around a Wearers neck or through a button hole or lapel hole in his clothing. The strip 26 is provided with an elongated slot 23 extending longitudinally and having at the end near the point of connection of the chain 27, an enlarged portion 24 shaped like a circle having a flat side 25. The member 26 is of a thickness to fit between the shoulder 19 and enlarged head 21 of the pin 12 and, the enlarged portion 24 of the slot 23 is of a size just to pass the head 21.

The intention is to limit the invention only wihin the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

11. An assembly comprising a badge, a pin fixed to the badge near one end and having an enlarged end spaced from the badge, the head being shaped like a circle with one flat side, and a clip having a slot having an enlarged portion at one end shaped like a circle with one fiat side, said enlarged portion of the slot being of such a size as just to pass said enlarged end of the pin in one angular position of the clip with respect to the badge.

2. An assembly comprising a badge, a pin fixed to the badge near one end and having an enlarged end spaced from the badge, the head being shaped like a circle with one flat side, and an attaching member having a slot having an enlarged portion spaced from one end and shaped like a circle with one fiat side, said enlarged portion of the slot being of such a size as just to pass said enlarged end of the pin in one angular position of the attaching member with respect to the badge.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,874,495 Fowler Feb. 24, 1959 

